A new back entrance to this historic library on the U.S.-Canada border highlights how President Trump is redefining America’s relationship with its northern neighbor.
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STANSTED, Canada – Libraries straddling the U.S.-Canada border have seen a surge in interest from curious visitors since President Donald Trump’s administration ended a 122-year-old tradition and began requiring Canadian visitors to use the back door.
Built on the border in 1904 as a symbol of international friendship, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House historically allowed both Americans and Canadians to enter through the main entrance on the U.S. side of the border. Canadians were allowed to use that door without passing through the border crossing a block away.
Among the recent visitors was Trevor Vanderweer, a 39-year-old cabinet maker and Canadian tourist on vacation with his wife, Emily, and their six children. The family, traveling in an RV, was returning home to the Niagara Falls area after a summer trip. Vanderweer said he learned about the library through the World Watch news service.
“They explained how they could legally cross the border without a passport as long as they were in the building,” Vanderweer said. “We thought, ‘That sounds really cool.‘”
Vanderweer’s family had a steady stream of visitors on a recent weekday during Canada’s two-week “construction holiday.” By 3 p.m. on July 16, library staff reported approximately 150 visitors.
The new library entrance is one of the latest examples of how President Trump is redefining the relationship between the United States and Canada.
On July 20, the president announced new tariffs on Canadian imports ranging from dairy products to alcohol to hockey equipment. President Trump has also refused to renew the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement signed in 2018, arguing it is too favorable to Canada. The president also accused recent Canadian wildfires of “contaminating” the United States and threatened to seek damages.
British Columbia Premier David Eby responded: “At this point, I feel nothing but sympathy for Americans. If you’re trying to pick a fight with Canadians, you don’t have friends around the world.”
The service road that once connected Stansted to the Vermont community of Derby Line is now cut off by a fortified border. U.S. Border Force agents and Royal Canadian Mounted Police are monitoring anyone approaching the border separating the two countries.
Last year, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem further strengthened the border, telling library officials that Canadians would need to start using a separate door from their home side. Noem then angered Canadians by jumping over the border on the library floor while joking about Canada becoming the 51st state in the United States. President Trump has repeatedly talked about annexing Canada, including most recently in a social media post on July 14th.
“People are very worried because President Trump keeps talking about this,” said Karine Cantin, owner of Auberge Le Sunshine bakery on the Stansted side of the border. “They want to say to President Trump that we can’t agree to this. That’s why a lot of Canadians aren’t going[to the U.S.]right now. This is a political choice.”
Canadian tourist arrivals to Vermont have dropped by 40% since President Trump took back the White House, state officials say.
Meanwhile, 1.1 million Canadians returned from the United States in February, down 13% from 1.27 million in February 2025.
Canadian and Vermont officials unveiled the new Canadian entrance to Haskell Library last month, saying they hope the building will remain a bastion of international friendship.
“Canadians didn’t choose Donald Trump, and neither did Vermonters. But we can choose our friends,” Vermont Treasurer Mike Piesiak said in a statement. “At a time when Washington is unnecessarily straining its relationship with Canada, this new entrance sends a simple message: Vermont’s friendship with Canada predates Donald Trump, and it will continue long after he takes office.”
Inside the library, materials are available in French and English, and the U.S. and Canadian flags are prominently displayed. The American side of the library is located at Derby Line, and the Canadian side is located at Stansted.
There are no physical barriers outside the library to prevent people from walking across the border, but planters block vehicular traffic and are monitored by border guards from both countries.
Visitors can browse the archives or attend opera performances on the second floor without worrying about the borders posted on the floor. However, you must exit through the door you entered.
Some signs warn against holding conferences and cross-border reunions, which the Trump administration has cited as concerns. In 2018, a Canadian man pleaded guilty to smuggling guns into Canada through a library after collecting a bag of handguns that his American partner hid in a bathroom.
Tighter library rules reflect larger constraints faced by local residents who, for generations, have viewed borders as little more than imaginary lines.
Pat Boisvert has lived on the American side for 86 years and remembers running across Canusa Street as a child to visit friends, but now she needs a permit to cross the street.
“We were walking around town and no one cared,” said Boisvert, who lives in Vermont. He lives in Vermont and flies a Canadian flag at his home and an American flag at his adjacent workshop.
Boisvert pointed with his crutches at the Canadian border station where he was supposed to check in before crossing the street. He said he hopes Canada and the United States can one day rebuild the close relationship he remembers from his childhood.
Border tightening began in advance of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and was tightened again after 9/11. Trump further restricted things during his first term and again when he took back the White House in 2025.
President Trump said Canada needs to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking. In contrast, Boisvert said if he sees someone trying to cross the border in search of a better life, he wants to help.
“If you see someone coming towards you, you’re not going to call Border Patrol,” he said. “I will either shut up or I will give them instructions.”
On the Canadian side, Cantin, the bakery owner, said he sees little evidence that border crossings need to be made more difficult. She said she occasionally sees harmless-looking people wandering into town and looking lost, and she suspects they entered the country illegally from the United States.
She said the new library entrance seemed like a waste of money, considering people from both sides could enter without officially crossing the border.
“We were very sad. It’s like the same village, but now it’s different,” she said. “But no one wants to be the 51st state.”
